If you were down Tumut way last weekend and spotted a man resplendent in a Popeye hat and pipe paddling down the Tumut River in an odd-looking orange vessel, you weren't seeing things.
Adam Farquharson was living out a lifelong dream to tame the fast-flowing river, (or at least a 1.6 kilometre stretch of it) in a giant hollowed-out pumpkin.
When Adam bought some seeds and attempted to grow a giant pumpkin 15 years ago, he thought he'd never fulfill his dream.
"It barely grew as big as an oversized grapefruit," laughs Adam, who admits, "I just don't have a green thumb."
In fact, his dream was in tatters until he met fellow Tumutian Mark Peacock, a horticulturalist extraordinaire, and grower of prize-winning giant pumpkins.
Last month, after Mark won the prestigious blue ribbon at the 2024 Sydney Royal Easter Show for his 412kg pumpkin, Adam had only one thing on his mind.
"We agreed when he brought it back to Tumut to give it another life ... as a boat," exclaims Adam, who, after Mark carefully salvage prized seeds (they can sell for $50 a seed!) set about turning in it into a watertight vessel.
"There wasn't much to do, just hollow it out and christen it as Cinderella [another pumpkin type]," Adam reveals.
While he was planning to make the voyage down the river with just a couple of mates looking on, word quickly spread and on Saturday a couple of hundred people cheered him on.
With such a fast-flowing river, safety was paramount. Adam, an experienced kayaker, scouted the route first, wore a life jacket and also carried a knife just in case his craft he was upturned and he needed to carve his way out. He also had his wingman, Duncan Watt, paddling alongside him in a kayak.
"I've been paddling the river for 18 years and this is the most fun I've ever had," he exclaims.
